Muskegon Heights schools handed over to charter school company

"The facilities are amazing," Mosaica Education President Gene Eidelman said of Muskegon Heights High School. He says techonology will be integrated into the curriculum.

Lindsey Smith
/ Michigan Radio

The leader of a small, urban school district in western Michigan is completely privatizing the public school system there. The case may become an example for other school districts facing major financial problems.

The problems are academic and financial

The situation at Muskegon Heights Public Schools was dire. It ran $18,000 in the red each day school was open last year.

After more than six years of spending more money than it took in, the school board threw in the towel. They voted to give up their local authority to the State of Michigan.

“It was a letter with everybody’s name on it. And you had to sign it. And it said officially, on this day, we was laid off because – oh the crisis of what was happening,” Vines said.

Vines was a special education aid for 15 years. He says everybody knew the end was coming.

Falling property taxes and declining student enrollment are common for school districts in Michigan these days. But Muskegon Heights is also one of the poorest cities in the state. The average household makes just $20,000 a year.

Test scores are dismal. Muskegon Heights High School is a staple on Michigan’s "Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools” list.

Emergency manager says charter was his only option

Don Weatherspoon was the emergency manager brought in to try to fix the situation. He decided the only choice was to turn operations over to a charter company.

“I am not against unions, but this is the way I have to go, because I don’t have any other options,” Weatherspoon said at a public meeting in late May.

Weatherspoon was appointed to avoid bankruptcy. And merging the district with another public school system nearby wasn’t an option either. No other school district wanted to take on $4 million in debt and a $12 million spending deficit.

Mosaica Education Inc. gets 5-year contract – but details are still not available

“The game is on, and we’re totally committed to have competitive sports and excellent band and also much better academics than what’s been here before,” exclaimed Gene Eidelman, the president of the for-profit charter company Mosaica.

About 60 people in the audience applauded Eidelman.

Eidelman says the biggest challenge for the fall is the district’s empty coffers, so Mosaica will chip in its own money up front.

“We have provided a $5.5 million commitment to have the funds here so we could open until the first check arrives,” Eidelman said.

So far, the details of the contract with Mosaica are still secret. Though the document was approved in an open meeting, it wasn’t available to the public. And attorneys refused to share the information with reporters -- basic information-- like how much money the district will pay Mosaica.

Weatherspoon brushed off concerns over disclosure. He says the information will be available within the next week or so, and no one in the audience seemed to mind either.

Angela Ogden is a former Muskegon Heights teacher and local union leader. She compares the whole situation to a prolonged death or a nasty divorce.

“Denial to anxiety and stress and sadness and, you know, you’re just you’re up, you’re down, you’re everywhere. And so to have something like this – it provides a sense of hope and excitement for everyone,” Ogden said.

A new plan to eliminate a running deficit at Muskegon Heights Public Schools would close schools and cut teacher pay by 40-percent. That means a teacher with a PhD and 20 years of experience would make around $40,000 a year. New teachers would make around $20,000.

But school leaders admit the plan is still unlikely to work.

Unions haven’t even voted on the concessions. But interim superintendent Dave Sipka had to submit the plan anyway to get the money the district needed from the state in order to make payroll.

Three members of the Muskegon Heights’ school board have resigned, the same day the district’s emergency manager also announced he’s laying off more than 150 employees.

This is the second week on the job for the emergency manager of Muskegon Heights schools. On Wednesday, Don Weatherspoon made two announcements; that he’s delivered pink slips to 158 employees – including teachers, administrators and support staff. And two, that he’s accepted the resignations of three members of the school board.

Muskegon Heights Public Schools voted late last year to request a state emergency manager in an effort to sort out chronically troubled finances. Part of the plan emergency manager Don Weatherspoon eventually came up with involved turning schools in the district over to a charter operator.

Muskegon Heights Public Schools Emergency Manager Don Weatherspoon heard from parents, alumni, teachers, and taxpayers during and after the meeting. He reassured parents a free neighborhood school will be open this fall.

But most had questions he couldn’t answer yet. Like, will there be band, art or athletics? Busing and special education services? Although he’d prefer it, Don Weatherspoon says he cannot make any guarantees.